Stakeholder management process and sustainability of corporate social responsibility projects in technical and vocational institutions in Western Kenya

Abstract

Project sustainability is increasingly becoming a general problem for research in both the private and public sectors in Kenya. While the trend with implementation of projects is showing substantial improvement, post-implementation sustainability is rather disappointing with very few projects being sustained. Corporate institutions invest huge resources under corporate social responsibility in social institutions yet most of these projects fail to deliver anticipated benefits beyond the project life. Though successful, one of the most critical obstacles is the extent to which the projects are able to persist despite the exit of donors. The study sought to contribute to the growing body of knowledge by determining the relationship between stakeholder management process on project sustainability of corporate social responsibility projects (CSRPs) in the technical and vocational educational training institutions (TVETs) in western Kenya. Specific objectives focused on the relationships between five stakeholder management processes namely; stakeholder identification, stakeholder communication, stakeholder engagement and stakeholder empowerment on sustainability of CSRPs in TVETs in western Kenya with the moderating effect of knowledge sharing. Review of literature and identification of knowledge gaps formed the basis of the conceptual model and hypotheses. The study was based on stakeholder theory, the theory of sustainability, institutional theory and stakeholder management process model to examine the relationship. The study was anchored on the positivist research philosophy that tests hypothesis developed from existing theory through measurement of observable social realities. The study used a descriptive research design. The target population consisted of 12,585 in public and private TVETs in operation from which a sample size of 375 respondents was drawn by use of stratified random sampling method. Primary data was obtained using self-administered questionnaires based on five-point Likert scale. The quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive data was used to summarize the data while inferential statistics applied multiple linear regression analysis to test the hypothesized relationships. An analysis of the underlying statistical assumptions was conducted by testing for linearity, normality, homoscedasticity, multi-collinearity and auto-correlation. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS). In the findings of ANOVA, the coefficients indicated that Stakeholder Identification had a statistically significant contribution in the prediction of the sustainability of CSRPs in TVETS in western Kenya, (=0.515, t=13.854, p=0.00<0.05) so was Stakeholder Communication (=0.439, t=13.412, p=0.00<0.05); Stakeholder Engagement (=0.622, t=17.733, p=0.00<0.05) and Stakeholder Empowerment (=0.493, t=14.638, p=0.00 <0.05). From the findings, the Interaction Effect had a significant influence on the Sustainability of CSRPs in TVETS in Western Kenya [ R2 change = .042, F-change =23.563, ß = -0.151, t = -4.854 p=0.00<0.05]; indicating that Knowledge Sharing had a significant moderation effect on the relationship between Stakeholder Communication and Sustainability of CSRPs in TVETS in Western Kenya. The study therefore concludes that the combined effect of stakeholder identification and stakeholder engagement, moderated with knowledge sharing affect sustainability of CSRPs, is greater than the individual effect of predictor variables. The study recommends training of stakeholders on stakeholder communication and engagement to ensure that stakeholder management process enhance sustainability of CSRPs in TVETs.